I am going to tell you something that I hope instills you with hope. While I don’t regularly employ one word twice in one sentence but, today’s theme is… you guessed it, hope! I want to talk about hope as it relates to your career. This hope comes through what we like to call, Career Exploration.
Career exploration is something that is ongoing. I am not old by any means (convincing myself as I enter into my thirties), but I can say that it took me several years post-college to figure out what career really suited me. As I have mentioned in previous emails, my undergrad degree is in theatre so I explored the spotlight and determined that too much of my father’s accountant blood had polluted my artistic sensibilities leaving me with a hunger for a more stable life style (theatre can definitely be a stable life style, I had simply not found that for myself). So then I tried the bank life and enjoyed that for a bit. I then worked for an opera company which felt like the right thing with my background. A few years later I found myself in higher education which, spoiler alert, I really love. And do you know why? Because I am working in my strengths. Every day. It’s awesome! In fact, I was stirring my coffee this morning and rejoicing in the fact that I get excited to come to work every day.
I share my story because I want to help you skip the hopping around stage of career exploration. Honestly, you may have to go through a little bit of that to figure out what it is that you really love and that is also a completely valid experience. Here’s some ideas for you to think about as you are trying to determine the right career for you:
- Know yourself. This is half the battle! There are some great assessments out there to help you learn more about yourself and the value that you bring to a team. The CliftonStrengths assessment is one we are big proponents of. Once you have taken this assessment, sign up for a Strengths Coaching appointment with one of our Certified Strengths Coaches here in Career Services.
- Find a target. Start thinking about 5 – 10 industries that interest you. Maybe Aunt Sally’s counseling practice has interested you since you chatted about it at that one Thanksgiving dinner two years back.
- Try on those careers. So now that you know Aunt Sally’s career interests you, you are going to hit her up for a quick call or coffee date to chat about her career. Another term for this is Informational Interviewing. You are going to dive into some questions that will help you understand if that career would align with your values, interests, and strengths. Maybe you don’t have an Aunt Sally, that’s okay! You can network through faculty, staff, friends, co-workers, or simply finding people on LinkedIn. Start asking the people around you who they know that can equip you with new information. You can also try on careers by finding internships and job shadow opportunities. These take a little more investment, but are great ways to really try on a career!
- Career Coaching. Maybe you need to sit down and chat with a Career Advisor. That’s great! Sometimes brainstorming is the best thing to do when you feel stuck. You can set up an appointment with our staff through Handshake.